Fowler's Ghost (engine)
Fowler's Ghost *'Class': Fireless broad gauge locomotive *'Designer': Sir John Fowler *'Builder': Robert Stephenson & Co. *'Built': 1861 *'Configuration': 2-4-0 in real life, 2-2-2 in the BRWS 'Fowler's Ghost '''was the nickname given to an engine who was built to work on the London Underground, but failed, and now haunts Britain's railways as a ghost. Bio In 1861, Sir John Fowler designed an engine that would not make steam for use on the London Underground. This engine was built by Robert Stephenson & Co. and was given a trial run later that year on the Great Western line. Unfortunately, he failed on this run, and he also failed on a trial run made on the Metropolitan line even later that year. Fowler was very angry at the engine's failure, and ordered the men to cover up the engine up and hide him away, but first he denied that the engine had existed, and had some of his parts removed. The engine was banished to a disused tunnel on the Underground, and whilst he was down there, he became angry, as it was Fowler's fault that he had failed, not his. He soon began to plot his revenge. A few years later, whilst men were removing the rails leading to the engine's tunnel, the tunnel shaft collapsed, crushing the engine. One night, a while later, a runaway engine was seen, but it never arrived at the point where the men were about to derail it. After this constantly happened, Fowler was forced to show some photographs of the engine to the public after some people became suspicious. The engine's ghost was not seen for a long time afterwards, but it was sighted again on the 50th anniversary of the engine's first failed trial. It then continued to appear whenever an engine was going to be scrapped. In 1952, Stephen saw Fowler's Ghost after his accident, and in 1959, Jerry saw it after a shunter was cut up at Leeds Central. On Halloween that same year, just after the engine's story had been told to the engines of Copley Hill, Fowler's Ghost appeared there. Stephen, who was the only one to see it, had a conversation with the ghost, and told it that whilst it had failed to find Fowler, it had managed to make itself known to the world. The ghost then prepared to leave, and Stephen said that he would follow it next time, unaware that he would never see Fowler's Ghost again. Basis In real life, Fowler's Ghost was a fireless broad gauge 2-4-0 engine. However, as no model of the real Fowler's Ghost is available, and Simon Martin failed to make one from scratch, in ''The British Railway Series, Fowler's Ghost is a modified version of Der Adler, a 2-2-2 engine built for use in Germany. Also, as Simon Martin could not make a broad gauge set, Fowler's Ghost is a standard gauge engine in the series. Livery During his life time, Fowler's Ghost had orange-red frames and a green boiler, cab and tender. Appearances Episodes *The Parting of Ways (mentioned) *Fowler's Ghost (does not speak) Simon Martin has hinted that Fowler's Ghost may appear in a later episode. Trivia *Two models of Fowler's Ghost were used for his appearance: one which was see-through, and one that at first was painted plain white for close ups of the ghost, before being painted into the colours that he wore in his lifetime. *Fowler's Ghost's fate was not the same in the series as it was in real life. The real Fowler's Ghost was cut up in 1865, and it was never seen as an actual spirit: it was nicknamed Fowler's Ghost because of the fact that nobody had really ever seen it. Gallery Fowler's Ghost as a spirit.jpg|Fowler's Ghost Category:Steam Locomotives Category:Tender Engines Category:Cut-Up Engines Category:Copley Hill Visitors Category:Great Western Region Category:Broad Gauge Category:Other Regions